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Pruchnicki44   Stza   Mskim

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#1074479 Pruchnicki44 View Profile	Gluttons? okay so i have seen a few posts talking about apropriate prey size, and i think that most of us understand this concept. And if you offer your snake an appropriate sized item and it is still hungry, most of us agree that it is ok to feed another item. However, if you offer your snake a few items at once will it know when it is full and stop eating? Or will it eat until it is sick? Now keep in mind I am not talking about power feeding (which for those who don’t know is intentional over feeding, usually by force, to force quick weight gain) Or even overfeeding with the idea of trying to get the snake to grow faster. I am more interested in wether or not the snake knows how much it needs. The reason this question comes up is because my snake was a bit under weight and i offered it a mouse that i thought would be enough, but she gladly took another one by grabbing it and refusing to let it go. So she had one in her coils and was acitvely swallowing another one and never let go of the one she was hoding the entire itme, i didn’t even think they could do that. I tried to remove the one she was holding when she loosened up a bit but she just squeezed tighter. and afterwards she looked like a stuffed sausage. I was scared she was gonna regurge. But she ended up sleeping on her hot side all week and not having any problems. (she usually spends her time on the cool side)
11/27/06  10:28am
#1074796 Stza View Profile	Message To: Pruchnicki44   In reference to Message Id: 1074479  Gluttons? Hmm, how can you tell if your snake is hungry or not besides it being agressive. I saw this video yesterday i thought it was pretty interesting. She feeds her adult rtb 10-12 mice per feed. Link I also wonder how she killed her mice, because she says two survived. I dont know if this is off topic, if it is, sowwy :D
11/27/06  04:18pm
#1074816 Mskim View Profile	Message To: Pruchnicki44   In reference to Message Id: 1074479  Gluttons? Snakes, in the wild, are naturally opportunistic feeders and SOME will instinctively keep eating since they do not have a sense of when their next meal will be. I think it may be best to figure out the proper size and give them that and then wait for the next feeding schedule. In my (only 2 years, so certainly not a pro) experience and in everything that I have read and advice I have recieved from our Herp Vet, it is best to feed the proper size (as big around as their thickest part) about every 5 -7 days, for consistant healthy growth. Rats are more nutritous than mice. When we switched to rats our snakes seemed healthier and filled in faster. I learned that a rat hunched in a cage looks alot thicker than a rat stretched out so we were feeding too small. There are times when we can’t get the right size so we feed 2 smaller rats and try to get back to normal the next feeding.
11/27/06  04:29pm

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